by Carol Grace
He was amused to see Amelia’s eyes flash and her face turn red at his last remark. He remembered that she’d blushed once last night. So she wasn’t made of stone, after all. He wondered what it would take to get a real reaction out of her. He had no doubt that she’d never been ravished in the front seat of a truck, nor did she find the idea the least bit appealing. As for him, he hadn’t wanted to ravish anyone for many months, and he certainly wouldn’t start with an uptight, out-of-place city girl.
“Since none of those things is going to happen,” she said, blinking rapidly, “we’ll split up, and I’ll do the hardware shopping. Just give me your list.”
“Hardware is man’s work,” he said. He hoped she’d realize he was joking. He was as much a feminist as any guy. But she didn’t laugh or even smile. “Why don’t you run along,” he suggested. “Go home and pick apples, and make your famous apple pie I’ve been hearing so much about.”
“She told you I made a famous apple pie?”
“It made my mouth water,” he said. That much was true. He had a weakness for homemade pie dating back to childhood. It certainly wasn’t anything his ex-wife had ever made.
“Well, too bad. I’m not apple picking right now. I’m going to the hardware store.” She turned on her heel and headed out the door. She looked deflated after coming all the way to town, then realizing it was for nothing. He almost felt sorry for her. He put the prescription on the counter, went out to the street and caught up with her.
“Amelia,” he said. “Wait. If you really want to go to the hardware store, go ahead. Here’s my list.” He stuck it in her hand.
She looked startled. Maybe it was because he’d called her by her name. It felt strange, rolling off his tongue. It was actually a nice name, feminine and musical and a little old-fashioned. But it didn’t suit her at all.
“Thanks,” she said. She glanced down at the list. “What’s silicone caulk?”
“It’s a sealant to stop leaks. Comes in a tube. I better take care of this stuff. Give me back the list.” He reached for it.
“No.” She crumpled it in her fist.
This was getting ridiculous. “You go on to the hardware store,” he said. “That way, you can feel useful. And I’ll meet you there to make sure you’ve gotten the right things.”
“I have no need to feel useful,” she snapped. “I am useful. I am not a stranger to hardware stores. The clerks there are usually helpful, so I’ll be able to manage quite well on my own. Thank you, anyway.” She shrugged out of the sweatshirt and tied it around her waist, then she spun around on her heel again and marched purposefully down the street.
He stood watching her for a long moment, her hips swaying in her tight jeans and her hair shining like a beacon in the sunlight on Main Street. A carpenter on scaffolding gawked at her, and two teenage boys on skateboards whistled. Yes, she was just what the town needed—a redheaded spitfire with a body that didn’t quit and a mind of her own. Good thing she was leaving in a week or two, or every man between seventeen and seventy would be ogling her, unaware of her fiery temper. That shouldn’t bother him, but it did. A little.
Chapter Three
Amelia hurriedly completed the hardware shopping before he could come by and check up on her. With her arms full of supplies, she passed a pickup truck on the street with a dog in the passenger seat. When the dog saw her, he barked enthusiastically and pressed his nose against the glass.
She looked around. Brian Wolf was nowhere in sight. She went up to the truck window.
“Hello, dog,” she said. She’d forgotten his name. Actually, she’d never spoken to a dog before in her life. But he seemed pleased that she’d come to see him. She shifted the bags in her arms and reached in through the half-open window to rub the dog’s nose with her knuckles. He made a soft whinnying sound. Too bad the dog’s owner didn’t have half the charm of his dog.
On the way to her car she passed the diner. When she glanced in, she saw Brian Wolf sitting on a stool at the counter with a plate in front of him. As she passed, he turned his head and looked at her. She walked faster, pretending she hadn’t seen him, rushing by before he could offer to buy her a cup of coffee or ravish her in the front seat of his truck. But she had seen him, and he knew it. She just hoped he hadn’t seen her talk to his dog. He’d think she was some kind of nutcase.
“You just missed him,” her grandmother said when she walked in the door of the cottage.
Amelia didn’t bother to ask who she’d just missed. She saw the pills on the kitchen table. “How did that happen? I just saw him in town,” she said.
“Really?” Granny said.
Amelia decided to accept her grandmother’s wide-eyed, innocent look as bona fide. “We divided up the errands. It worked out better that way.”
“I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
“Not at all,” Amelia said, determined not to get into the same old discussion with her grandmother. “Now let me fix your lunch.”
“I already had a sandwich. I made one for you, too.”
“You should stay off your feet.”
“It only took a few minutes.”
Amelia looked around the kitchen. There was not only a sandwich on the counter, but a pot of soup on the stove, and the breakfast dishes had been washed. Amelia was just going to admonish her grandmother when Granny spoke up.
“Now, Amelia, I can’t just sit on the couch all day. I’ll go quite crazy with boredom. It can’t hurt for me to do a few things around the house. Which reminds me— Brian has one of those exercise balls that you squeeze to increase the strength in your hands. He says it’s just what I need. I wonder if you’d mind picking it up at his house. It’s really just a short walk through the woods.”
Amelia sighed. Would she never quit? “Of course.” She didn’t ask why her neighbor couldn’t bring it over. “I’ll go right now.”
“Have your lunch first,” Helen said. “There’s plenty of time. Time to make an apple pie, too.”
Amelia looked at her watch. It was after noon and she hadn’t accomplished a thing. She thought longingly of her makeshift office upstairs and all the work she could be doing. And yet, with the sun shining and the air cool and fresh, the woods beckoned to her. Even if it meant a brief meeting with the neighbor. She’d get to her work this afternoon after she made the apple pie she was supposedly so good at.
“Just one thing, Granny. Your friend Brian? You’re right, with his granite jaw and chiseled grin or grizzled chin or whatever else you said, I admit he’s a very attractive man, but he’s really not the right man for me. I’m sure he won’t have any trouble finding someone more, uh, suitable for him. Unless he’s not looking, of course.”
“I’m afraid that is the problem,” said Granny, a frown wrinkling her brow. “He thinks he doesn’t need anyone.”
“Then maybe we should take him at his word. Not everyone needs your help matchmaking for them.”
“Not everyone, no.”
“Just me and your friend, is that right?”
Granny pressed her lips together as if she were afraid of saying something that would put Amelia off. But it was clear she thought she knew what was best for everyone. It was just as clear to Amelia there was no way to stop her grandmother from doing what she was set on.
“If you knew Brian as I do, you’d understand,” Granny said at last. “You don’t know what happened to him.”
“No, I don’t.” Amelia certainly didn’t intend to find out, either. And yet… And yet, Granny had piqued her curiosity. “Since I won’t have time to get to know him, why don’t you fill me in on his story. Or are you sworn to secrecy?”
“All I can say is that something very terrible and tragic happened to him about a year ago. It’s no surprise that he hasn’t gotten over it, but I just wish I could help him. What he’s done is seal himself away in his house. He hardly ever goes to town, which is why I’m so grateful to him for making the effort today. I’m really his only friend around here,
which is not right. He needs people his own age who are interested in him and what he does. He needs to get back to doing what he’s good at.”
“Which is?” Amelia blurted, then caught herself. It was none of her business.
“You’ll just have to ask him, dear.”
Amelia nodded, but she had no intention of asking Brian Wolf anything except to hand over the exercise ball, if, indeed, it really existed and wasn’t just another of Granny’s excuses to get them together.
So instead of going up to her room and working on a software glitch, Amelia changed into shorts and knotted a men’s tailored, white cotton shirt at her waist and went on her way through the woods to Brian Wolf’s house. Before she left, her grandmother took a look at her outfit and frowned.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” she asked.
Amelia hid a smile. “That’s it,” she said brightly.
“Didn’t you bring a skirt or a sundress?” Granny asked.
“Yes, but I’m in the country now and I’m going for a walk in the woods. It’s not as if I’m going to a square dance, is it? I can’t tell you what a relief it is not to have to dress up anymore. I’ve unpacked my suitcase and hung my suit and high heels in the back of the closet up there. I actually found this old shirt in a drawer upstairs. I’m not sure where it came from…if you’re saving it for something special…?”
“I think I was saving it for the Goodwill,” her grandmother said drily. “I was just wondering if you’d want to wear something more…feminine.”
“Nope,” Amelia said cheerfully.
“And your hair…” Granny said. “That’s not how you usually wear it.”
Amelia brushed her bangs out of her eyes. She’d pulled her long hair into a knot at the nape of her neck. “No, you’re right. For as long as I’m here, I’m going natural. I won’t have to check in with my stylist, for once.”
“No makeup?”
“Right again.”
Granny sighed, then decided to put the best face on it. “Well, you look very…clean.”
“Good.” Amelia kissed Granny on the forehead. If her nature-girl look didn’t convince Granny she wasn’t looking for Mr. Right, it ought to at least convince her neighbor. Maybe he’d relax and stop treating her like an intruder and just accept her for what she was—an outsider, yes, but one with no motive other than to help her grandmother.
Blue jays swooped overhead and squirrels scampered up the tall oak trees along the path. The sun on her bare legs made her feel like skipping, which she hadn’t done in years. Pine needles crunched under the soles of her running shoes. Somewhere in the distance she heard the sound of someone splitting wood. She’d only left the city yesterday, but already she felt like she was in another world. So why not relax and stop worrying about her work? Truthfully, she hadn’t thought about the office and the work she’d brought home for hours.
“Well,” Brian said to his dog, setting his ax down and wiping the sweat off his face. “I don’t have to ask what you think of her. I saw how you behaved when she stopped to pet you at the truck. It’s blatantly obvious you’ve fallen for her. What’s wrong with you? Can’t you see she’s just like Natalie? The same city clothes, attitude and personality. I can understand why you like Helen. Don’t think I haven’t seen her sneak you those doggy treats. But Amelia? I don’t get it. What is it? What do you see in her?”
His dog looked at him, his face cocked to one side.
“Never mind. It doesn’t matter. It’s the hair, isn’t it? Okay, I admit it’s an unusual color. It catches the eye. But there’s more to women than their hair. If you don’t know that by now… At least admit she doesn’t belong here. Didn’t you see what she was wearing yesterday? Don’t be fooled by the jeans and the sweatshirt today. After one week, she’ll be gone, with her fancy shoes and her suit and her red hair, and we’ll be alone again, which is what we want. Which is why we’re here. Which is why we put up the sign, isn’t it? Well, isn’t it?
“It was working pretty well, I thought. Until yesterday. Until she comes barging in here. If it weren’t for her grandmother…
“Don’t give me that look. I go over there only to see Helen. To help her out. So I offered to do her errands and bring some firewood. Who else is going to do it?
“You don’t think I’ve forgotten why I’ve sworn off women, do you? You don’t think I’ll ever forget, do you? Because I won’t. And don’t tell me it’s time to rejoin the human race. I’ve had enough of humans, that’s why I have you.
“You’re everything women are not. You’re loyal, friendly and faithful.” He scratched the dog under his chin. “They, on the other hand, are ambitious, cold and determined. Isn’t it obvious she fits the image? And I’m having no part of it, no matter how hard our dear friend Helen tries. I’m never going through that again, and you know why….”
“Ahem.”
There was nothing wrong with talking to your dog, Brian assured himself, but it was slightly embarrassing when you were caught in the act.
“What good are you?” he muttered as his neighbor’s granddaughter walked through the gate and his dog didn’t even bark. Dante approached her with such enthusiasm and naked adoration that Brian just stood there, shaking his head. The dog just didn’t listen. The dog didn’t think. The dog relied on instinct. He, on the other hand, had submerged his instincts. Instincts only got you into trouble.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone,” he explained, grabbing his shirt and throwing it on.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? Granny told me you’d offered her some kind of exercise ball to strengthen her grip. But you didn’t, did you? I should have known it was a setup. Never mind.” She turned to leave. Then she turned around and eyed him curiously. “Tell me, does your dog understand what you’re saying?”
“Yes, he does,” Brian said firmly. “And the best thing? Dante never talks back. No smart answers. He just listens.”
“An admirable trait,” she agreed. “And an admirable name. Maybe that’s what I need—a dog. Only, I can’t have one in my apartment. Well, goodbye.”
“Wait a minute,” he said. “As long as you’re here, you could take your grandmother the electric can opener I fixed for her a while ago. It’s in the barn. I’ll be right back.” He didn’t invite her to come with him. He didn’t even know why he’d remembered about the can opener. But here she was, dressed in a shirt that gave him a tantalizing glimpse of the smooth skin at her waist and short shorts that showed off her long, long legs, with her hair in some kind of knot behind her head. The one thing she had going for her, that sensational hair, he couldn’t see much of because of how she’d tied it back. It just made him want to yank off the band that held her hair in place and let the sun shine on it. Maybe let it fall through his fingers. No, no. What was he thinking?
Amelia obviously hadn’t gotten the message—wait for me here—because she followed him and his dog around the back of the house to his converted barn.
“What do you need a barn for?” she asked.
“What does anyone need a barn for?” he asked, pausing at the wide double doors to look into her dark brown eyes. Anything to avoid gazing at that shirt and imagining how she’d look if it came unbuttoned, which it wouldn’t—not without an act of nature like a bolt of lightning or a flash flood. “It’s a workshop and a storage area,” he said brusquely.
“A workshop,” she repeated. “I thought you didn’t do any work.”
“I don’t, but I did.”
“Oh.”
He didn’t want her to see his shop. He didn’t want her to see his house, either. He wanted to be left alone. He knew how women operated. Give them an inch and they took a mile. Now he was sorry he’d ever mentioned the can opener.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not coming in. I wouldn’t dream of violating your privacy. I’ll just wait out here.”
She was perceptive, he’d give her that. She knew he didn’t want her around. He only hoped she wasn’t perceptive
enough to know that she affected him where he least wanted to be affected. In the gut. Seeing her this morning in her window, in that see-through nightgown, had caused him a near meltdown. Then he’d met her in the drugstore, and now she’d arrived unexpectedly on his land in those short shorts that showed off her long, smooth legs and that maddening white shirt that set his imagination going at warp speed.
He ought to be glad she wasn’t in some skimpy halter top. Because it was warming up today, and he himself had been shirtless. Sure, he resented her city-girl black suit, but still… That didn’t mean he wanted to see her stripped down and going country. It was all so phony. And now she’d followed him to the door of the barn. Watching her pet his dog made him feel as if the walls of his defenses were crumbling. That couldn’t be. Not after he’d spent all this time constructing them.
He squared his shoulders. “I’ll be right out,” he said, and closed the barn doors after him and Dante.
Amelia stared at the closed doors. She couldn’t believe he’d closed them in her face. She didn’t really think he’d invite her in, but still… She felt hurt and left out. She told herself it was just a barn, and it was his barn, but still… She couldn’t help wondering what was in there that he didn’t want her to see. Curiosity—it got the better of her instinct and manners.
She walked around to the side of the rough-hewn building. There was a window, too high for her to look in. She dragged a step ladder over and stepped up on it. By standing on tiptoe she could see into a huge space filled with such an amazing sight, she almost fell off the ladder. Her mouth flew open as she gazed in surprise through the cobwebs into the cavernous barn. So this was his secret. So this was what he was hiding. But why? She got off the ladder and stood at the double barn door, just where he’d left her, trying to look innocent.
“Here you are,” he said. He closed the door behind him and handed her a carton. If she asked him now, he’d know she’d peeked. If she said nothing, she might not get another chance.